Film Archive

Hairdresser, The (Friseuse, Die)

Her GDR doesn’t exist anymore – and her husband, job and house in the suburbs are all gone, too. Unemployed hairdresser Kathi Koenig lives on a prefab estate block in Berlin-Marzahn with her daughter Julia. She wants to work, but no one will let her. She felt sure she would get that new job in the hairdressing salon of a big shopping center, but she has been turned down. Because Kathi is fat – very fat – and therefore “not aesthetic”. Or at least that is what the salon’s manager Ms. Krieger says.

However, Kathi is a very determined character, and she won’t be shaken off that easily. She decides to open her own hairdressing salon in an empty Asian snack bar next to Salon Krieger. A struggle begins against the authorities, the banks and consultants. On the uphill path to good fortune, she meets people like the attractive hairdresser Silke, the slick trafficker Joe and the lovable Vietnamese Tien.

Doris Doerrie was born in Hanover. After studying Acting, Philosophy and Psychology in the USA, she studied at the University of Television & Film in Munich, where she runs the Creative Writing Department today. In addition to directing, she is also a novelist. Her award-winning films include: Straight Through the Heart (Mitten ins Herz, 1983), Inside the Belly of the Whale (Im Innern des Wals, 1984), Men (Maenner, 1985), Paradise (Paradies, 1986), Me and Him (Ich und er, 1988), Money (Geld, 1989), Happy Birthday! (Happy Birthday, Tuerke!, 1992), Nobody Loves Me (Keiner liebt mich, 1994), Am I Beautiful? (Bin ich schoen?,1998), Enlightenment Guaranteed (Erleuchtung garantiert, 2000), "Naked" (Nackt, 2002), The Fisherman and His Wife - Why Women Never Get Enough (Der Fischer und seine Frau - Warum Frauen nie genung bekommen, 2005), How to Cook Your Life (2007), Cherry Blossoms - Hanami (Kirschblueten - Hanami, 2008), and The Hairdresser (Die Friseuse, 2010).
 

Genre Drama
Category Feature Film Cinema
Year of Production 2010
Director Doris Doerrie
Screenplay Laila Stieler
Director of Photography Hanno Lentz
Editor Inez Regnier
Music by Ivan Hajek, Coconami, La Brass Banda
Production Design Susanne Hopf
Producer Ulrich Limmer
Production Company Collina Filmproduktion/Munich
Principal Cast Gabriela Maria Schmeide, Natascha Lawiszus, Rolf Zacher, Ill-Young Kim, Christina Grosse, Maren Kroymann, Maria Happel
Casting Doris Borkmann
Length 100 min
Format 35 mm, color, cs
Original Version German
Subtitled Versions English
Sound Technology Dolby SR
Festival Screenings Berlin 2010 (Berlinale Special), Moscow 2010
With backing from German Federal Film Board (FFA), Medienboard Berlin-Brandenburg, FilmFernsehFonds Bayern
German Distributor Constantin Film Verleih/Munich

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